Five Stages
by Elia19
Summary: How would Emma deal with her immenient death? Let's see... 6x01
1. Denial

****A/N: It's a story dealing with Emma's feelings about the prophesy of her death; hope you'll enjoy it.****

 ** **Warning: there are some CapitanSwan references, but nothing major, so, please, bear with me.****

* * *

 ** **Denial****.

This night Emma Swan just couldn't fall asleep.

She just laid on her back and looked up onto the ceiling. She desperately needed some sleep, but the room was too hot, Killian's hand around her waist was too heavy and her thought seemed to have a life of their own.

Emma tried to do anything to forget the talk with the Oracle and for the evening between helping at Granny's and later entertaining Killian she managed to do that. However, now these thoughts came back with vengeance.

Thoughts about her death.

These scary visions of the dark hooded figure stabbing her. Blood on her hands. Blood pouring onto the ground. Terrified eyes of her family. Tears running down Henry's cheeks. Regina rushing to her, horror written all over her face. Her parents staring at the scene in front of them, too shocked to do anything.

'This just couldn't happen,' Emma tried to convince herself. 'Our fate is not set in stone. It's just a possibility, not sure thing.'

But the vision was so realistic.

'No, I refuse to die like that. I just found my family, my happiness. No, I'll change everything. I will… It's not real.'

What about tremors? They were definitely real.

'It's stress. Yes, stress of dealing with crisis after crisis' Emma unconscious nodded her head. 'I need some rest, that's all… It's nothing serious.'

'There's nothing mysterious about it,' this was the last thought before she sank into the restless sleep.

 _ _She was in absolute darkness. There was no light.__

 _"_ _ _Hey, where am I?" she shouted, but no one answered. She took a step and realized there was no ground under her feet, but this realization came too late and she had no chance to escape the fall.__

Emma woke up with a start and abruptly sat in the bed. The sweet was running down her forehead. Her breath was labored and her hands were shaking like crazy.

"It was just a dream," she whispered and tried to force her hands to stop shaking. 'A dream. Calm down, Swan. Calm down."

Luckily, her actions didn't wake Killian. He just grumbled something, turned in the bed and kept on snoring. Emma was thankful; she was in no mood to deal with his overbearing prodding and questioning.

After a couple of calming breaths the tremors started to wane and Emma understood that she won't be able to go back to sleep. She needed some fresh air.

Emma ran out of the house only in her sleeping pants, T-shirt and sneakers. She needed to clear her head and get rid of all this nervous energy she accumulated after this dream. So she did, what she always did in such situations.

She ran. And ran. And ran.

Ran until she had no energy left.

Emma leaned on her knees and looked around. She was somewhere in the forest, but she had no idea where.

A crack sounded from the bushes on her right. Emma tensed up and got ready for attack.

"Ah, Sheriff Swan, it's such a surprise to meet you here," came a drawling collected voice, she knew really good.

"Gold, I thought you was looking for a cure for Belle," now Emma could clearly see him, but still didn't loosen her stance. After all, no one really knew, what this conniving man had on his mind.

"Well, I succeeded, so I'm back," he replied harshly.

"I see…" Emma didn't know how to answer.

"The question is what are you doing here, in the forest, in the middle of the night?" Gold strode closer to her. "Shouldn't you be with you darling parents, protecting their precious little boy? Or with your beloved pirate, appeasing his every whim?" he walked around her and stopped right in front of her.

"Shut up," Emma growled. For some unknown reason his words angered her immensely.

"Or what? You'll punch me, Sheriff?" Gold burst out laughing, turned around and started walking away.

A thought came to Emma's mind: even though Gold was the most vile creature of the Enchanted Forest, he still was the oldest. He lived for many centuries, knew many different people and for sure met other so called saviors.

"Wait, Gold," she shouted.

"What do you want, Sheriff?" he asked without stopping, so she headed after him.

"Do you know something about other Saviors?"

Gold glanced at her and a creepy smirk appeared on his face. "Ah, I see. It started, didn't it?" his voice was full of laughter.

"What started?" Emma didn't want to divulge any information to him.

"This," Gold grabbed her hand and pulled it on display in front of them. It was trembling. Emma snatched it out of his grip and cradled it to the chest in her other hand.

"Just tell me what you know," she snapped. Emma really didn't have any patience for his games now.

"Tsk, tsk… How rude… But ok, there's no fun messing with a walking corpse," his cruel laugh rang over the forest. Emma's heart skipped a beat. 'He's just messing with me. It just can't be.'

"Gold," she growled.

"Ok-ok, every Savior I met had a major flaw: they didn't know when to stop. They just gave and gave and gave, but then a moment came, when all they had left was their life. And they gave it. Without questions. For their family, for their friends, for their people. However, before that some warning signs always appeared: their bodies giving out, they saw visions, they had trouble sleeping," he abruptly stopped and she walked right into him. "So good luck, Savior," Gold gave her the last smirk and went further into the woods.

Emma was left standing in the middle of the forest. All this information was too much, but one thing she knew for sure: she couldn't keep denying, what was happening to her.

'Soon I will die.'

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I have two ongoing fics, but I couldn't resist.**

 **How did you like the first episode of the 6th season? It was kind of intriguing for me, and I couldn't wait for more Evil Queen appearances. However, the CapitanSwan scene at the start has really grossed me out. No offense to anyone who liked it, but it's just... eww...**

 **Oh, and I'm still looking for beta, so if anyone is interested, drop me a line.**

 **That's all for now.**

 **Elia**


	2. Anger

****Anger****.

Something boiled inside Emma.

Throughout the day everyone wanted something from her. Citizens with their everyday problems just wouldn't survive without her help. Why must it be her? Why couldn't they ask their monarchs? Oh, of course, she was the great Savior of all and her parents were too busy with their little boy.

Talking about her parents. They needed a break and they just assumed that Emma wouldn't mind sitting with her brother during her one and only weekend. No, of course, she wouldn't have any other plans, of course, she'd make time for this. Of course... She was the Savior, she owed everyone everything.

And don't even start her on Killian and his clingy ways. He just couldn't stop following her, asking for this and for that, making eyes at her on every opportunity and, when she didn't address his advances, he just kept looking at her like a kicked puppy. Didn't he have anything else to do or someone else to pester? Oh, yes, he is a redeemed pirate with no life outside his relationship. It's such a pity that his obsessive behavior only suffocate her more and more with every second spent with him. The longer she was in his presence, the more her want to run away grew.

'Why? Why me?' Why couldn't someone else be the Savior? Why everyone expected her to be a hero and always save the day? She was just a person. She just wanted someone to understand her, to care for her, to have a family, not to be alone. She never wanted to be labeled some almighty machine for defeating villains. And now she was expected to die for the cause…

A sound of someone coming closer rang behind her.

She groaned. 'Why can't everyone just leave me alone?' She was sitting on the edge cliff overlooking Storybrooke. The scenery was really breathtaking, though she had no interest in enjoying the view. She came here to be alone and to vent her frustration and anger. 'I should have guessed. I won't be left alone; they'll always find me. Oh, how sweat…'

"What do you want?" Emma asked sharply and buried her head into her hands.

No one answered. Then she felt someone sit next to her. She knew who it was by the smell of the apple perfume.

"Emma…"

"Did they send you after me?" Emma didn't let her finish.

"No. Henry saw your meltdown with your parents from the diner. He was worried about you, so he called me," Regina clarified.

"Just leave me alone, Regina," It was nice from Henry's side, but she really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. She just wanted to be left alone. Wanted to think without pressure. Without everyone poking and prodding her for the answers, she didn't want to give.

"I can see you're not in the mood for chit chatting," Regina said and got up. "Let's go." Emma looked at her outstretched hand with confusion.

"Regina…" But her phrase was cut short.

"No. Don't argue. I can see, you're angry for some reason," her hand was still stretched out. "I'll help you deal with it."

Emma trusted this woman. Regina was one of the people, she could rely on without any doubt; if not the only one person. So she took her hand and got up.

They disappeared in the cloud of the purple smoke. The next moment they were standing in the spacious round room without any windows.

"Where are we?" Emma asked, looking around.

"In my vault," answered Regina and walked to the center of the room. Emma gave her a questioning look. She had been in the brunette's vault many times, but never in this room.

"It's a special room surrounded with a bunch of protection enchantments. I usually come here, when I need to vent my ire," Regina explained. "Letting my magic run free always makes me feel better, calmer. I know you pretty well and can see you need something like that, so…" she waved her hand and different objects of different size and shape filled the room. "You're welcome to do whatever you want."

Emma smiled at the older woman. She really did know her pretty well, and this made her heart grow warmer…

'But enough with empty thoughts… Time for some destruction…"

Emma turned away from Regina, a smirk appeared on her face.

She unleashed her powers.


	3. Bargaining

****Bargaining.****

A week went by without any incidents. Practically everyone seemed to go on with their everyday lives.

Emma wanted to be one of these lucky guys. However, she couldn't shake off the feeling of impending doom. Everything was too good to be real; it felt like a calm before the storm.

So Emma started preparing herself. She decided that she wouldn't go down without a fight. She formed a routine of training not only her body, but her magic too. Luckily, Regina still let her use the "venting" room in her vault with no questions asked. Emma was really grateful for that.

Maybe if she got ready to fight she would be able not only to protect her family, but to survive the encounter with her fate.

However, the more time Emma spent training the more distant she became. Snow and David didn't know what to do: every time they tried to talk to their daughter, she would find some excuse to escape the talk.

Regina understood that Emma was in no mood to talk to anyone, so she took it upon herself to discuss it with Henry. After everything the boy was really worried about his mother, but understood that simple chit chats wouldn't help her. Together with Regina, he made sure, Emma knew they would support her through anything and were here for her no matter what.

Killian, on the other hand, didn't understand why Emma was distancing herself from him and tried to pressure her into talking. This backfired in him moving back to Granny's. He sincerely couldn't comprehend what was happening with Emma. He only tried to be a good doting boyfriend. After all he was her man and it was his responsibility to protect her and deal with her problems.

Emma was too busy to deal with this attitude. She just wanted to be prepared to face her fate. Now she came to understand, her relationship with Hook didn't come to exist out of pure feelings: everyone around her were so lovey dovey, proclaiming their undying love, and seeing the only purpose of their lives in love that Emma felt uncomfortable around them, being single and all. So she caved in and started dating Hook.

Don't get her wrong, she cared for him, but not in the way girlfriend sould care about her boyfriend. First and foremost, he was her friend and for her friends and family, she was willing to do anything. Go to hell, for example.

Emma decided, if she was going to die, she will die an honest person: honest with herself and others.

The next day Emma talked to Killian and cleared the water between them. He was heartbroken and she really was sorry about leading him on. However, he tried to understand her reasoning, but still hit the bottle for a couple of weeks.

A week went by after their break up and Emma still couldn't sleep well. Nightmares plagued her mind and after waking up her hands always shook terribly. And with every time they got only worse.

Emma had enough of that, so she decided to approach the only person who seemed to know something and could be willing to divulge some info.

Mr. Hyde looked like he didn't even move an inch from the last time they met. He still sat on the hospital cot with his hands in cuffs and this creepy smile on his face .

Emma opened the door and walked in.

"Good evening, Savior. Or do you prefer Sheriff?" he still didn't move and kept staring at the wall in front of him.

"What do you know about my condition, Mr. Hyde?" asked Emma, ignoring his previous question.

"Condition, Savior?" Hyde finally looked at her with a lifted brow. "You seemed to be in good health here."

"You know what I mean," Emma started pacing the room. "Tremors and visions started when you appeared in Storybrook, so your arrival somehow triggered all of this."

"Ah, smart, but I must disappoint you," sneered Hyde. "It's not connected to my arrival. It's connected to the arrival of YOUR villain."

"Ok," Emma stopped pacing and looked straight at Hyde. "Tell me who it is."

Hyde just turned away from her without saying a word.

"Well, what do you want?" Emma prompted.

Hyde coldly chuckled. "I have everything I want."

"You don't have the thing you want the most - you freedom."

His booming laugh filled the room. "Ahahah, I'm where I want to be. You have no control over me and I don't owe anyone anything. You, Savior, on the other hand… Don't you agree?"

Emma couldn't stand his smugness anymore without taking action. She so desperately wanted to hurt him, but she knew it wouldn't accomplish anything. So she walked away.

Emma was fuming when she walked out of the hospital. She came there for answers, but was left with only more questions and a slight headache.

"Ma?" a young voice of her son sounded from behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"Police business, nothing important," she really didn't like lying to Henry, but he didn't need to know who she came here to see.

"Oh, okay," now Henry was standing right next to her and he threw a hand over her shoulder. "Do you want to have dinner with me and mom? She's making lasagna, your favorite."

Emma smiled at him. "Count me in, kid."

"Then let's go," he tugged her in the direction of the Mifflin street.

While they were walking together, Emma thought that maybe everything was not as glum as it seemed. She had her family by her side and for now everything was great.

Maybe it really was the purpose of her life: seeing the smile on Henry's face, having family dinners at Regina's, just spending time with these two.

Regina greeted them on the porch of the house: Henry with a loving embrace and Emma with a sarcastic remark, but still an affectionate smile on her face.

'These moments are really worth fighting for…'


	4. Depression

****Depression****.

I was waking down the main street of Storybrook. Hands in my pockets, eyes on the pavement under my legs. The gray concrete turned into seemingly unending path leading us nowhere.

I couldn't concentrate on the road ahead of me. I just didn't want to notice anything around me. Everything around me was a dull colorless mass: every car passing by, every building around me, every person walking by.

I felt such an emptiness inside me. Nothing seemed to really matter. All these trivial needs and activities seemed to cease from my mind: work turned into endless cycle of paperwork, I had no wish to go out on calls and left that to my Deputies; food didn't bring me the satisfaction, it used to; cocoa with cinnamon never tasted as foul as now so I switched onto black coffee without any supplements, it made taste-buds feel something even as bitter as this beverage is.

I didn't even noticed how I reached Granny's. We agreed to have a family dinner tonight. I was already late, but I didn't even attempted to hurry up. I was just standing on the other side of the road and looked at the scene in front of me.

Here sat my family at our usual table by the window. My parents were trying to make my little brother sit still for just a minute, but he wouldn't give them a break and desperately tried to slip away. Henry was animatedly explaining something to skeptical looking Zelena or as the boy preferred to call her now Aunty Z. She usually scoffed at this moniker and rolled her eyes, but didn't tell Henry anything. Everyone could clearly see that she liked it.

Regina was holding baby Robin in her hands and cooing at the little girl. Even from the outside, I could tell that the girl was filling the crowded diner with her innocent laughter and Regina's 1000 watt smile could have provided the whole town with energy. She was so radiant and beautiful at this moment that a sudden desire to see her with young Henry appeared in my conscience. Suddenly, Robin stretched her tiny hand out and put it on Regina's chin. The woman burst out laughing, then kissed the girl's palm and pressed the little cutie closer to her chest.

Something squeezed inside my chest. I so desperately wanted to be the part of this pitch perfect family, to sit in the diner among them, smile, laugh with my family and just be happy. But I couldn't. I had to be alone. I had to distance myself from them. So they don't have to suffer after my departure. They've had enough sorrow in their lives. I didn't want to add to it.

'How could they be happy? How could they smile and laugh, when I wasn't able to feel a thing?' a rogue though ran through my mind. Immediately I felt guilt washing over me. They had a life full of happiness and brightness ahead, and I had no right to take that away from them. Snow and David would have one more child, or two, they would have a crazy life, but would always come as winners at the end of the day. They would grow old together and would be happy. Henry will finish school, get into some good college, would find his True Love and build a family of his own. Zelena would make peace with her sister and find her own happiness. And Regina. She deserved to be the happiest person on the earth. With every passing year she would look only more breathtaking. She would meet a person, who would always be by her side no matter what. They would marry, maybe even have another child. For some reason, this thought hurt the most.

'Maybe because I won't be there to see all that,' an unpleasant feeling settled at the pit of my stomach.

I couldn't show up there. I couldn't destroy their happiness. I had to go. I would just do what I had to do and be gone. Everything would be better without me.

I turned around to go back to my empty house. I had to be alone.

Something jingled in the pocket of my coat. I pulled my phone out and saw a massage.

 ** **Henry: Mom, where re u? We're waiting only for u.****

I just wanted to ignore it, but it would only make them worry, so I quickly typed in the answer.

 ** **Me: I don't feel well, Hen. Have dinner without me. I'll just go home, sleep it off. Don't worry bout me, k?****

The answer came immediately.

 ** **Henry: Do you need anything? I can skip dinner and come be with u.****

 ** **Me: Nah, Hen. No need to worry. Have dinner, spend time with your family. I'll be fine on my own.****

 ** **Henry: You're my family too, Ma. But if you insist…****

 ** **Me: I insist.****

 ** **Henry: Ok. Love you, Ma. Get better soon.****

 ** **Me: Love you, Hen.****

I looked up at the night sky and tried to compose the features of my face.

Still, a stray tear ran down my cheek.

* * *

I was leaning on the counter in my bathroom, looking at the pitiful reflection in the mirror.

The woman looking at me had dark circles under her eyes. Said eyes were sullen and had no fire in them. Blond hair were put into the messy bun on the back of her head. Her face was sickly thin and the skin had unhealthy grayish color.

Nowadays, I rarely looked into the mirror exactly because of this woman. I really didn't like seeing this picture.

I took a small bottle out of the cabinet behind the mirror. With shaking hands I counted down two white pills.

During this month my nightmares got only worse: they were full of different terrifying scenes not only from my future, but from my past as well. After a week without sleep, I was absolutely exhausted. The headaches and muscle cramps only worsened my condition. So I gave up and went out of town to get some sleeping pills. I bought the strongest I could buy without the medical prescription.

At first, they helped and I slept like a babe, but with every passing night their effect seemed to weaken. Yesterday, nightmares reappeared.

My hands were still shaking.

'Ah, to hell with it. I need my beauty sleep, even if it's not so beauty,' I shook a couple more pills into my palm and stretched for the glass with water.

A sound of the bell rand throughout the empty house.

I slammed the pills onto the counter. 'Who the fuck is this?' I shouted in my head. 'They'll go away, just wait. They will…'

The bell kept on ringing, so I went to open the door.

I swung the door open. "Regina?" my voice was filled with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Good evening to you, too, Ms. Swan," without invitation she entered the house and made her way to the kitchen. I followed her. "I brought you dinner." she put the bag onto the counter and started taking food out.

"I'm not hungry," I whispered, but it was enough for her to hear.

Regina abruptly shoved half-full bag onto the counter and turned to look at me.

"Emma," she walked closer to me. "Tell me, what is happening?"

"I'm fine…" I tried to deny everything, but she didn't let me finish.

"No, enough with this bullshit," now she was standing so close to me that I could practically feel her breath on my face. "I tried to give you some space, but enough is enough."

"I…"

"Henry is worried; I am worried. You practically stopped eating, you lost weight; you have huge circles under your eyes and always look tired; you spend less and less time with your family. So tell me, Ms. Swan, what is really happening?" demanded Regina, her hands were on her hips, her eyes were filled with determination to find out the truth.

I felt cornered. I couldn't run away, after all we were in my own house; and I couldn't lie to her, not to her.

Unconsciously, tears started to fall down my cheeks. "Re-Regina…" I whimpered.

The look in her eyes immediately softened. "Oh, Emma," Regina whispered and wrapped her arms around me, embracing me.

I instantly wrapped my arms around her and started to sob into her shoulder like a fucking baby.

"Emma, shh… Everything will be alright… Shh…" Regina whispered soothingly and started running her right hand through my hair. The other was rubbing small circles on my back. "We'll deal with everything… Shh…"

"I-ah… I'm… just so-ah… damn… tired… Gina-ah," I gasped between the sobs. "I-ah… need to… want to… sleep… so-ah… much…"

"Okay, Emma, you'll go to bed soon," Regina whispered. Bit by bit her ministrations worked and I started to calm down. "You just have to eat something and then you'll go to bed, okay?"

"No… I don't… want…" I only pressed closer to her warm body and burrowed my head deeper in her shoulder. 'I'm so comfortable… and she smells so nice… And we feet so well together.'

"Okay, then let's get you straight to bed," we disappeared in the purple smoke and reappeared in my room. "Emma, let me go and go to bed." Regina prompted, but I refused to do as she said.

"Nightmares, I won't be able to sleep," I whispered. I wanted to hug her forever.

For a couple of minutes we just stood there in silence. Then Regina seemed to come up with something.

She guided our bodies to the bed and a second later we were lying on it in each others embrace.

Regina scooted back to lie on the pillow and I settled my head on her chest with my hands tightly wrapped around her waist.

Regina started to hum lightly and when I looked at her questioningly, she explained. "When Henry had nightmares, I used to sing to him, so if you don't mind…"

I just shook my head.

She started to sing. Her voice was reach and soothing, and soon I started to drift away. Her hands were gently running through my hair and over my back, adding to the calming effect of her voice.

The last thing I remember before drifting off to sleep was a light kiss on my forehead and her angelic voice.

"Sleep tight, Emma."

* * *

"Emma," I was ripped from my sleep. And, Gods, what a sleep it was. There were no nightmares, I was so comfortable and warm. I could have stayed like this for the rest of my life.

"Emma!" this pretty voice shouted once more.

I tore my eyes open and saw Regina standing over me with her hands on her hips. Her face was full of anger and something else… Fear… Yes, definitely fear. 'But why is she scared?'

"R'gina," I mumbled and leaned on my forearms to take a better look at her.

She took a calming breath, ran a hand over her tousled hair and sat on the bed next to me. "Emma, what are these?" she stretched her hand out, and there were the pills, lying on her palm. "Were you trying to..?" But I didn't let her finish.

"No, Gods, Regina, no, nothing like that," I sat up and assured her. "These are slipping pills. I had trouble sleeping, because… well, you know," now I was embarrassed by my sob-fest yesterday. "So I bought them…"

"Ok, but why are there so much of them out of the bottle?" Regina's eyes were still filled with worry.

"I… At first, they worked great, but then…" I scratched the back of my head. "They weren't anymore… And I decided… The more I take, the stronger the effect, right?" I couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Emma…" Regina gave a frustrated sigh. "You could have killed yourself with this dose…" she put her hand on my cheek and made me look her in the eyes. "Promise me, you won't do something stupid like that ever again."

"I promise," I repeated.

"Now tell me, what is happening to you?" she ordered and removed her hand from my cheek.

I really didn't want to tell her about my visions. It'll only her worry more. It was unnecessary. So I decided to tell her only the part of the truth.

"I… I have these nightmares… They just won't stop… I can't sleep, so I'm always tired during the day… I don't know how to get rid of them, Regina," Regina just looked at me and then pulled me into a tight hug. I immediately felt guilty about concealing the truth. 'It was for her own good…' I tried to convince myself, but to no avail. Guilt still filled my body.

"We'll deal with it, Emma," Regina whispered. "I promise, we will…"

 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had to dig up some info about depression; hope, I showed some aspects of it accurately.**

 **Truth be told, it was a hard chapter for me to wright. I always try to process** ** **through** everything the character is feeling, live through the situation as them and try** ** **their personality** on myself, so they would be more accurate and feel more real. So this chapter really took a lot out of me.**

 **All in all, hope you'll like this installment. See you all in the next chapter.**

 **Elia**


	5. Acceptance

****Acceptance.****

Ocean. It always made me feel anxious and excited.

Now looking at its barely noticeable waves, I felt only calmness.

I'd been sitting on the pier for a couple of hours now. The day was already coming to an end, but I couldn't tear myself from this place and just go home.

I hadn't felt this calm for a long while. My thoughts were free from worry and I could just be…

In the last couple of weeks I came to accept many things.

I accepted my fate as a Savior. I would always try to help everyone and give them their happy ending, but in the end no one, most likely, would be able to help me.

I accepted my imminent death. Everyone is mortal, even oh so powerful Dark One.

At the mean time I just have to enjoy my life, here and now: enjoy the time spent with my family and friends, enjoy my work and helping people, enjoy my food, of course. That what really was important.

And when the time comes, I would meet death with my head held high and arms wide open. Because if my visions were right I would die for the right cause - for my family.

I came to strongly believe that death was not the end, but only beginning. That there was life after death. That in time I would meet my loved ones again on the other side and it would be a happy reunion.

And last but not least…

"Emma"

I turned around to see the source of the voice, though I already knew who it was.

"Hi," I smiled at her and scooted over on the bench, inviting her to sit with me.

"Hey," Regina took a sit next to me. All this time I kept looking at her beautiful face. "Everyone is looking for you, Emma. No one saw you for a while and you weren't answering your phone. Are you okay?"

Regina looked at me with her worried russet eyes and I just kept smiling at her. Then I returned my eyes to the ocean.

"Isn't it beautiful out here?"

And last but not least, I came to accept my feeling. I was hopelessly in love with this perfect infuriating woman. Regina Mills. Mayor of Storybrook. Mother of my child. From the time I met her she intrigued me, challenged me, made me feel things I've never felt before. We had our ups and downs, but after all it didn't really matter. We always remained a team. A great team.

And now I didn't see a point denying anything. I loved Regina. And I would love her till the end.

However, I didn't have a heart to confess. She lost so many loved ones to the death. I just didn't want to be added to that long list. I didn't want her to suffer. She deserved much more than that.

I hoped that loosing a friend wouldn't cause her such a heartbreak as loosing a lover. I really wanted it to be so.

As for me, her closeness, her company, her friendship would be enough.

I looked to the right and took Regina's left hand into mine.

"Let's stay here for a while," I suggested, a bright smile never leaving my features.

Regina glanced at our interlocked hands and gave me a bemused look, but still smiled and nodded. "Okay. Though not for long - it's getting cold." Then she looked back at the ocean.

I couldn't take my eyes from her.

At this moment, I made a promise to myself: if I survive the encounter with my villain, I would tell her everything about my feelings.

But for now I would just stay close and be there for my love.


End file.
